Chapter 1580

After Koyda received Sokov's promise, he couldn't help feeling ecstatic. According to his knowledge of the landing site on the right bank, there was no strong defensive position there. Facing the frenzied German attack, the troops who stood firm would definitely lose their ground in a short time. The casualties were heavy, and by then his troops would be transferred to the right bank area.

   On the way back to the army, political commissar Mashkov saw Koida's happy face and couldn't help asking: "Comrade commander, what makes you so happy?"

   "Comrade Political Commissar, at the meeting just now, the Comrade Commander personally stated that as long as the troops on the right bank landing field are severely reduced and need to withdraw to the rear for rest, our division will be transferred."

When Sokov made his statement, Mashkov also heard it, but he was obviously not as optimistic as Koida: "Comrade Commander, I think you may be disappointed. Maybe our division has no chance of entering the landing field on the right bank. This battle It will be over."

  Mashkov's words surprised Koida: "Why?"

"Just now I had a chat with Colonel Shechtman, the commander of the 254th Division," Mashkov sighed, and said to Koida: "Just a few days ago, our division had not yet arrived at Klemenchug. At that time, Comrade Commander organized a limited counterattack. While consuming the vital strength of the German army, he also pushed the defensive position forward for a certain distance. The 182nd and 300th divisions were responsible for defending these areas.

   That is to say, the original first-line troops are now in the second-line defense position of the landing site. Even if the defenders who stick to the first-line positions suffer heavy casualties, it is the second-line troops to replace them, and it is simply not our turn. "

   "What?" Koida's eyes widened in surprise, and he asked Mashkov, "Comrade Commissar, is everything you said true?"

   "That's right, it's true." Mashkov also said specifically: "If you don't believe it, you can call and ask the commanders of other divisions when we return to the division headquarters."

"Forget it, no need." Keida waved his hands and said, "Comrade Political Commissar, I believe what you said is true. It seems that the so-called reserve team, ready to take over the defense of friendly forces at any time, is nothing more than A verbal check from Comrade Commander."

"Don't worry, Comrade Commander." Seeing that Kuida's expression became depressed, Mashkov quickly comforted him and said: "Although our division may not be able to participate in the defense of the right bank, when the offensive begins, our division will be able to defend the right bank." Go into battle as a living force."

"Comrade Political Commissar," said Koida. During the entire meeting, he was thinking about how to deploy his troops' defenses after entering the right bank. He had no chance to communicate with other commanders at all. Hearing what Mashkov said at this moment , He couldn't help asking curiously: "Then when do you think we can participate in the offensive operations on the right bank landing field as a living force?"

   "I don't know the exact time," Mashkov replied: "But according to what I know, it shouldn't take long before the troops on the right bank will launch a round of attack on the enemy's defense zone."

  After listening to this, Koyda asked with great interest: "Comrade political commissar, what is the basis of your judgment this time?"

   "Before I left the headquarters, I had a few words with Colonel Manuoxin, political commissar of the 84th Division..."

  Kuida heard this, and couldn't help interrupting Mashkov's words: "Wait a minute, my political commissar, I want to know, how many friendly commanders have you chatted with?"

"I have basically talked with the commander of the right bank landing field." Mashkov replied with a smile: "You were chatting with the commander and the chief of staff at the time. I had nothing to do outside the church. I saw friendly troops. The commander was here, so he went over to say hello, chatted a few words by the way, and learned about their situation."

   Keida thought about it carefully, and it seemed to be true. As soon as the meeting was over, I asked Sokov and Sameko to ask questions, while Mashkov waited for me outside the church. When I came out of the church, I happened to see him chatting with other commanders. Because I was in a hurry, I didn't see which unit the other party belonged to.

   "Comrade Political Commissar," Koyda asked after a while of silence, "What is your basis for judging that the right bank will take offensive actions against the enemy?"

   "The reason is very simple. Commanders and fighters of the 84th Division are organizing learning to ride bicycles."

   "Riding a bicycle?!" Keida was puzzled: "What are they doing on a bicycle?"

"What else can you do? Naturally, it's to attack the enemy." After Mashkov finished speaking, he realized that he didn't understand clearly enough, and Keida might not be able to understand it, so he deliberately explained: "Comrade Commander During the briefing, you should see that the area where the 84th Division is stationed is full of forests, lakes and swamps, which are not conducive to the use of mechanized troops. In order to increase the efficiency of the offensive in this area, Comrade Commander to General Fomenko The troops are equipped with a batch of bicycles, and let the soldiers march on bicycles..."

Hearing this, Koyda immediately understood Sokov's intentions. He imitated the scene of soldiers chasing the enemy on bicycles, and said in surprise: "My God, this kind of thinking of Comrade Commander is really true. It’s too far-fetched, and I don’t know how he came up with it.”

"It doesn't matter how you think of it." Mashkov said: "After the commanders and fighters of the 84th Division have mastered the bicycle riding skills, they will move faster in the next attack. The attack launched by the landing site will start from their defense zone."

  Koida thought in his heart that the road conditions on the battlefield were extremely bad. If he wanted to mobilize troops quickly, it was far from enough to rely solely on the existing railway and road transportation. My division waited for half a month in the Melliefa Fortress before arriving here by train. If the whole division is equipped with a large number of bicycles, even if they cannot be transported by rail or road, their subordinates can ride to Kremenchug.

"Comrade Commissar," Koida said, "I was thinking, if each of our divisions had a bicycle, no, even if there were two bicycles, then the marching speed could be increased by at least one or two times. As long as there are enough After receiving the long-distance raid task assigned to us by the superior, the troops can also rush to the battlefield as soon as possible.”

"Comrade Commander," Mashkov agreed with Koyda's statement, but he said regretfully: "But under the current circumstances, where can the superiors find enough bicycles to equip our division? ?”

"As far as I know, there is a bicycle manufacturer in the city of Klemenchug." Keida still has some understanding of the situation in the city of Klemenchug. On the way, we will pass there, so we might as well talk to the factory manager and see if he can think of a way for us."

"Comrade commander, the bicycle factory in the city has long been taken over, and all production is provided to the 84th Division." Mashkov stopped Koida's thoughts: "Even if we go to find the factory director, I'm afraid he won't be able to Give us even one bike."

Koyda knew that what Mashkov said should be true. After all, when he was communicating with the commander and chief of staff, his political commissar was communicating with the commanders of other troops outside the church, and learned a lot that he didn't even know. matter. There must be nothing wrong with the bicycle factory.

   "Then what should we do?" Keida said with a dejected expression: "If the superior really can't provide us with bicycles, then in the next battle, our soldiers can only march on their own two legs."

"Yes, Comrade Division Commander." Mashkov also said helplessly: "As far as I know, there should not be many commanders and fighters in the division who can ride bicycles. The number of uses will be very limited.”

The speaker was not interested but the listener was interested. Mashkov’s words gave Koyda a new idea: “Comrade Political Commissar, what you said is very reasonable. Since Comrade Commander has set a precedent for marching on bicycles, then the troops will use bicycles in the future. There will be more and more places for bicycles, and if we don’t let our commanders learn to ride bicycles, we will fall behind our friendly forces. Therefore, we must find a way to get a batch of bicycles.”

  Mashkov agrees with Koida's statement, but he still has a headache about how to get the bicycle: "But where are we going to get the bicycle?"

"When I get back to the division headquarters, I'll call Chief of Staff Sameko." Koyda has already figured it out. Since he can't get bicycles from the bicycle factory, he can directly start with the headquarters and get them from there. The bicycles I need: "Ask him to help us get a batch of bicycles for the commanders and fighters to practice."

  Koida is also a vigorous and decisive person. The first thing he did when he returned to the division headquarters was to call the headquarters and ask Sameko for a bicycle.

  After hearing the strange request from the other party, Sameko quickly covered the microphone with his hand and said to Sokov: "Comrade Commander, Colonel Koyda said on the phone that we hope we can provide a batch of bicycles to their division."

"Koyda wants a bicycle?" Sokov was also surprised by this request from Koyda. He pointed at Sameko with his hand and ordered: "Comrade Chief of Staff, ask him if he wants a bicycle to do it." what?"

  Sameko let go of his hand covering the microphone: "Colonel Koida, Comrade Commander asked me to ask you, what do you want a bicycle for?"

Koyda hurriedly told Sameko what he knew, and finally emphasized: "Comrade Chief of Staff, you must be very clear about the road situation in our country. I believe that if you want to speed up the march of troops Speed, it is necessary to equip our commanders with sufficient number of bicycles."

"But the bicycles produced today are given priority to the 84th Division. After all, they will be the first unit to use bicycles in combat." Sameko said to Koida in a regretful tone: "I'm sorry, Comrade Colonel, I can't satisfy your wish, please forgive me!"

But Sameko's answer was already expected by Koida. He said with a smile: "Comrade Chief of Staff, you are the only one who can get bicycles in Klemenchug. You can help."

Before Sameko rejected himself again, he continued: "It doesn't matter if you can't provide us with a large number of bicycles. I just hope that you can solve a hundred bicycles for us first, so that I can use them for the trainers. Commanders and fighters, when the higher authorities equip us with enough bicycles in the future, the mobility of the troops will be greatly improved."

  Koida's request sounded reasonable, even if Sameko wanted to refuse, he still couldn't say it. He could only look at Sokov for help, hoping that Sokov could come up with a solution.

After Sokov figured out Koida's intentions, after thinking for a while, he said to Sameko: "Comrade Chief of Staff, please tell Colonel Keda that there are no 100 bicycles for the time being, and we can only provide them with 20 bicycles first." They can use these bicycles to let the commanders and fighters in the division learn to ride bicycles."

Hearing that Sokov only provided 20 bicycles to the 188th Division, the muscles on Sameko's face twitched violently a few times, and then cautiously reminded Sokov: "Comrade Commander, the 188th Division now has 8,000 bikes. There are many people, and only twenty bicycles are given to them, isn’t that too little?”

"Enough." Sokov said carelessly: "Although there are more than 8,000 people in the 188th Division, it is impossible for everyone to learn to ride a bicycle. Those who really need bicycles are combat troops. Give them twenty bicycles, Let them learn how to ride a bicycle as a company."

Now that Sokov had reached this point, Sameko realized that it would be useless to persuade him, so he nodded and let go of his hand covering the microphone: "Comrade Colonel, I have already discussed with the commander. , we don't have so many free bicycles now, at best we can only provide you with twenty bicycles..."

   "What, there are only twenty?" Koyda couldn't help crying when he heard the number that Sameko said: "Comrade Chief of Staff, can't you think of a way to get us a few more?"

"I'm sorry, Comrade Colonel, I can't provide you with more bicycles." Sameko said modestly: "Twenty bicycles is our limit. If you don't want too many bicycles, then I won't give them to you." gone."

"Okay, Comrade Chief of Staff." Koida originally wanted to ask for more, but after hearing what Sameko said, he knew that even if he asked again, he would be rejected, so he said decisively: "Twenty cars are two." Ten, I'll send someone over to pick them up later."

  Sokov waited for Sameko to put down the phone and asked, "Comrade Chief of Staff, how many bicycles are there in our guard?"

"There are probably more than two hundred." Sameko explained to Sokov: "At first there were only a dozen or so, but as the bicycle factory resumed production, while supplying the 84th Division, we also obtained some Production, and thus the number of bicycles owned by the Guard, increased from a few to over two hundred."

"Very good." Sokov thought to himself that since there are more than 200 bicycles in the security force, there is no need to contact the bicycle factory anymore, and just transfer 20 bicycles and hand them over to the people sent by Keda: "Immediately notify the guards and ask them to dispatch 20 bicycles and hand them over to the people from the 188th Division."

   "Okay, Comrade Commander." Sameko nodded: "I will immediately call the security force and ask them to prepare the bicycles handed over to the friendly army in advance, and they can ride away as soon as they arrive."

Thinking that Keda wants to use bicycles to equip troops, Sokov smiled. As long as there are enough bicycles in the future, the mobility of his troops will be greatly improved, and it will be the Germans. a nightmare.

  (end of this chapter)